Something has changed with Graveland, maybe it?s because Rob Darken does all the music himself these days, even the drum aspects, but this album is a great release. I believe this is the first album that is a full concept release influenced by the book Wotansvolk by Ron McVan, I?ve never read the book personally, but it?s interesting to see Rob produce a whole full length inspired by a literary work.

I was looking through all of my Graveland booklets recently and in every release Rob seems to upgrade his armor. On ?Carpathian Wolves? he looked more like the atypical Black Metaller in leather and spikes (no corpse paint or anything though). Then in ?Thousand Swords? he?s still got the leather, but now he?s got a shield and a helmet to go with his sword. It?s like watching a Dungeons & Dragon?s role playing game unfold before our very eyes as he gets more experience and gets better armor! Then he doesn?t get enough experience to level on ?Following the Voice of Blood? because he?s still got similar armor, but he must?ve slain quite a few Christians before ?Immortal Pride? was released because he?s got full chain mail armor and a steel helmet and he?s sporting not one, but two swords! A truly formidable player character if I ever saw one! Anyway, we get to ?Creed of Iron? and he?s got a steel helm with face shield and everything. Anyway, I?m waiting to see him with plate mail next, then he?ll be unstoppable, because after that we start moving into enchanted weapons, so his sword needs to glow on the following albums.

Anyway, now for a real musical assessment, this is probably by far my favorite Graveland done in this style. Each album improves a little here and there, but ?Creed of Iron? is the true sound that really embraced what I think Rob Darken was trying to do over the years. I even favor this over ?Thousand Swords? most of the time. ?Creed of Iron? just has this certain majestic approach behind the compositions that you cant? help but feel empowered when you hear this album. The songs are typically more mid-paced, just as prior Graveland releases have been, but this one?s structure is just presented perfectly so it?s not boring and keeps you enthralled with the composition. In songs like ?Ancient Blood? you hear more variation in Rob?s repertoire of guitar playing, and the choir based keyboards and thunderous drums just give you the extensive imagery of a looming army marching to battle. This whole effect is maintained from track one to the end. Rob?s vocal work is as standard as ever, and I think it would be interesting to hear Rob hire a different vocalist to see what it would be like, such as a real hellish screamer in the Black Metal genre. I think that would give the quality of his music a strange variation, but in a good way. Ask the guy from Behexen to do some session vocals, for example, just over some verses or something like that, not the whole album. I think it?s good to have Rob?s voice as is still included in the mix and Graveland wouldn't be the same if it wasn't there at all.

This is by far the most mature Graveland release up to this point, and Rob will hopefully only go up from here. This is usually my Graveland album of choice if I want to hear something in the vein he was trying to accomplish over the early years. Either way, something has changed in the Graveland we knew, and that empowering majestic presence that has us all interested in Graveland from the beginning is just at a far more heightened level at this point. This is by far a very worthwhile Graveland album to own in any collection, no one can do this better than Rob Darken.